Modifying an Evidence-Based Peer-Mediated Reading Program to Differentiate Instruction and Accelerate Learning Among Underrepresented Groups: Implementing PALS in the Rio Grande Valley

In Year 1, the team will revise the existing PALS Reading program. Teachers and students will implement the existing PALS program. Every other week, teachers will assess students' reading progress with CBM Maze. Administrative data from the previous spring and spring of the study year will be compared to estimate reading gain. This gain will be compared to the gain of comparable fourth-grade students immediately prior to the pandemic. Finally, the research team will interview and survey teachers and students to gauge product fit. In Year 2, the research team will implement the modified PALS-RD program for 18 weeks in participating classrooms. The team will conduct an RCT, involving the randomized assignment of fourth-grade classrooms to PALS-RD and business-as-usual (BAU) conditions. Reading performance will be measured on CBM Maze and on administrative student learning measures. PALS-RD condition students' reading achievement on the administrative assessment will be compared to comparable fourth grade students' scores on the same assessments in the year immediately preceding the pandemic. Analyses will focus on two important contrasts: the first between PALS-RD condition and BAU condition students to determine the efficacy of the PALS-RD program; the second, to determine whether students in the PALS-RD group demonstrate progress equal to or better than comparable students in the year immediately preceding the pandemic. The research team will also conduct cost analyses and cost effectiveness analyses in Year 2. In Years 1 and 2, the research team will conduct prepare-to-scale activities.